Little Women (1949)
Little Women is a film produced in 1949, directed by Mervyn LeRoy. It is based on Louisa May Alcott's best-selling series of novels. The film stars June Allyson as Josephine March and a young Elizabeth Taylor as Amy March. Plot In the small town of Concord, Massachusetts, during the Civil War, the March sisters - Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth - live with their mother in a state of genteel poverty, their father having lost the family's fortune to an unscrupulous businessman several years earlier. While Mr. March serves in the Union Army, Mrs. March, affectionately referred to as "Marmee" by her daughters, holds the family together and teaches the girls the importance of giving to those less fortunate than themselves, especially during the upcoming Christmas season. Though the spoiled and vain Amy often bemoans the family's lack of material wealth and social status, Jo, an aspiring writer, keeps everyone entertained with her stories and plays, while the youngest March, the shy and sensitive Beth, accompanies Jo's productions on an out-of-tune piano. The spirited Jo, a tomboy in search of male companionship, strikes up a friendship with Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, the grandson of the March's wealthy, but cantankerous neighbor, James Laurence. Later that winter, Jo so impresses Mr. Laurence with her forthrightness and her beneficial effect on the brooding Laurie, that he invites the March sisters to a fancy dress ball at his sumptuous home. At the ball, Meg is courted by John Brooke, Laurie's tutor, and Jo consents to dance with Laurie while Amy and Beth breathlessly view the scene from their perch atop the staircase. Mr. Laurence's gruff demeanor is softened upon meeting Beth, who reminds him of the beloved granddaughter he lost, and when he learns of her musical talent, he offers her the use of his grand piano. The beautiful evening ends on a sour note, however, when Amy and Beth overhear the snobbish Mrs. Gardiner and her daughter gossiping about Marmee. As the weeks pass, Laurie's affection for Jo grows, but Jo rebuffs him as a suitor, claiming that although she loves him as a friend, she will never marry. Meanwhile, Jo attempts to discourage Meg's deepening feelings for Mr. Brooke, fearing that a marriage will break the bond between the sisters. Spring arrives, and Marmee receives word that Mr. March has been wounded and sent to an Army hospital in Washington, D.C. Jo asks her wealthy Aunt March for Marmee's train fare, but the two have a heated argument when the impatient Jo refuses to address Aunt March with the decorum the proud woman demands. As usual, Aunt March comes through for the family, but not before Jo has had her beautiful chestnut locks cut off and sold in order to pay for Marmee's trip. While carrying out Marmee's work for the poor in her absence, Beth contracts scarlet fever, and the distressed and frightened sisters realize how much they depend upon Marmee. Just as Marmee returns, however, Beth's fever breaks, and the entire family is reunited when Laurie arranges for the surprise return of Mr. March. A few months later, Meg marries Mr. Brooke and Laurie asks Jo to marry him, but she turns him down, explaining that she is uncomfortable in high society and wishes to devote her life to writing. Greatly disappointed, Laurie leaves for Europe, and Jo, saddened by the seeming loss of both Meg and Laurie, who she considers to be her best friend, moves to New York to pursue her career. While boarding at the home of the Kirke family, Jo meets Prof. Bhaer, the Kirke children's German tutor, who introduces her to art museums and the opera. Prof. Bhaer agrees to read Jo's stories, but Jo is devastated when he later criticizes her work, dismissing it as sensationalistic. Bursting into tears, Jo reveals that she feels abandoned by Laurie and hurt that Aunt March, who had long promised her a trip to Europe, has taken Amy instead. After consoling Jo, with whom he has fallen in love, Prof. Bhaer advises her to write from her heart, and Jo decides to return home where she is needed, for Beth is again very ill. Upon her return to the now nearly empty March household, Jo learns that her beloved Beth is dying and spends the next few weeks caring for the courageous girl, who bears her suffering without complaint. After Beth's death, Jo assuages her grief by writing a novel entitled My Beth, which she sends to Prof. Bhaer for his opinion. Later, Meg, now the mother of twins, gently informs Jo that Laurie and Amy have fallen in love in Europe and are to be married. Although Jo is happy for the couple, she realizes for the first time how lonely she is and how much she wishes to be loved. A few weeks later, Laurie and Amy return as husband and wife, and the Marchs's joyfully celebrate the family's reunion. The festivities are interrupted when Prof. Bhaer arrives with Jo's novel, which he has had published. However, when Laurie answers the door, Prof. Bhaer mistakenly assumes that Jo has married her friend and politely declines Laurie's invitation to join the party. After Jo catches up to her departing suitor, the two embrace and Prof. Bhaer proposes marriage. Jo happily accepts, then leads her future husband back to the warmth of the house, where her family awaits them. Cast The cast list is presented thus: actor/actress - character. *June Allyson - Josephine "Jo" March *Janet Leigh - Margaret "Meg" Brooke (née March *Margaret O'Brien - Elizabeth "Beth" March *Elizabeth Taylor - Amy March *Peter Lawford - Theodore "Laurie" Laurence *Mary Astor - Marmee March *Rossano Brazzi - Professor Bhaer *Lucile Watson - Aunt March *Sir C. Aubrey Smith - Mr. Laurence *Richard Stapley (Richard Wyler) - John Brooke *Leon Ames - Mr. March *Harry Davenport - Dr. Barnes *Connie Gilchrist - Mrs. Kirke *Ellen Corby - Sophie Release Originally intended as a 1948 release, the premiere of Little Women was delayed until March, 1949, when it was presented as the Easter attraction at New York's Radio City Music Hall. It is believed that the reason for the delay was to make the movie part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "Silver Anniversary Celebration". Little Women became one the top grossing films of 1949. According to MGM records it earned $3,425,000 in the US and Canada, and $2,495,000 overseas resulting in a profit of $812,000. Reception Accolades Wins *1950 - Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration (Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. Moore) Nominations *1950 - Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Robert Planck, Charles Schoenbaum) Changes from the novel *In this version, Beth March is portrayed as being several years younger than Amy March, while in the book she is a year older. Amy is shown to be protective of her and to speak for her on occasion. *Instead of first meeting at a New Year's Eve party, Jo and Laurie first see each other when the March girls are taking their breakfast to the Hummels, and Jo visits Laurie while he is sick and confined to the house before as well. *When the girls attend the New Year's Eve party, all four of the girls go, rather than just Meg and Jo as presented in the novel. They leave early because Beth is upset over her and Amy hearing from other people that Mrs. March had plans to marry them off well, instead of Meg spraining her ankle while dancing. *Also, at the beginning of the book, when the March sisters are each given a dollar to spend at their pleasure, they decide to all buy something for their mother, or "Marmee", as she is called. In the film, while they eventually do buy presents for their mother, they initially purchase things for themselves. *In the book, Amy is pulled out of school when her teacher, Mr. Davis, strikes her across the hand with a ruler when she hides limes in her desk; but in the movie, she is in trouble for drawing pictures on her slate, and she is not struck. *Several other scenes are left out, such as the group picnic, when Amy falls through the ice after following Jo and Laurie to the river, and when Amy and Laurie fall in love in Europe. *Jo and Laurie, while they are best friends in the book, Jo even having a special nickname for him ("Teddy"), have a still somewhat close but much less intimate relationship in the film. Category:Films